The present invention relates to a diaper package comprising compressed flexible disposable diapers and a flexible packing bag adapted to contain a plurality of these disposable diapers.
There has already been proposed, in a published Japanese translation of PCT international publication for patent application No. 1999-501275 (hereinafter referred to as “Citation”), a diaper package consisting of a plurality of disposable diapers each comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet and a liquid-absorbent core interposed between these two top- and backsheets, and a flexible film adapted to pack such plurality of diapers wherein the film defines top and bottom walls spaced from each other in vertical direction, front and rear walls and two side walls extending between those top and bottom walls and wherein those diapers are compressively packed within a space surrounded by these walls (See Citation). Each of these diapers has front and rear waist regions and a crotch region along which the front and rear waist regions are contiguous to each other. The diaper further includes front and end portions lying opposed to the crotch region and defining upper end portions of the front and rear waist regions, respectively. The diaper is folded back along the crotch region so that the front and rear waist regions and consequently the front and rear end portions also are placed one upon another.
In this package of prior art, the top and bottom walls, the front and rear walls and the laterally opposed walls are substantially orthogonal one to another so as to form a hexahedron and, more specifically, this package has a three-dimensional shape of a rectangular parallelepiped which is relatively long in the vertical direction. In this diaper package, these diapers are arranged with the waist regions thereof placed against one another to form first and second rows extending the side walls. These rows are placed upon each other in the vertical direction. In the first row, the respective crotch regions' bottoms aligned one with another between the side walls face the top wall. In the second row, the respective crotch regions' bottoms aligned one with another between the side walls face the bottom wall. These two rows are placed upon each other in such a manner that the front and rear end portions of the respective diapers in the first row are placed against the front and rear end portions of the respective diapers in the second row. In the first and second rows, respectively, the diapers lying on both ends in the first and second rows have the waist regions as well as the front or rear end portion are placed against the side walls.
The package disclosed in Citation is three-dimensionally shaped in a rectangular parallelopipedon, so a range in which the package can be visually recognized when the front wall is seen head-on is substantially the same as a range in which the package can be visually recognized when the rear wall is seen head-on. In addition, impression left after the front wall has been seen head-on is not different from impression left after the rear wall has been seen head-on. As for the shape, this package of prior art has not a sufficiently predominant feature to attract consumer's attention and can not leave the consumer with visually impactful impression. Therefore, it is difficult for this package of prior art to improve an advertising function and a quality displaying function. Furthermore, assumed that desired display elements such as a trade name as well as a quality of the package, illustration and image are printed serially on the front wall and the side walls, these display elements will get chipped in the vicinity of corners defined by cross lines between the front walls and the side walls when the front wall is seen head-on. The range in which the display elements may be serially printed is thus limited to respective areas of the front wall and the side walls and it is impossible to print the display elements serially in a range larger than each of these walls.